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S THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  | 
Princeton,  N.  J.    ^— ^   '^^" 


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ON  THE  LOVE  OF  PRAISE. 


SERMON, 


DELIVERED  SEPT.  23,   1810, 


BEING    THE 


SUNDAY  PRECEDING  COMMENCEMENT. 


BY  SAMUEL  STANHOPE  SMITH,  D.D. 
PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF   NEW-JERSEY, 


NEW-BRUNSWICK: 
PUBLISHED    BY  J.  SIMPSON   AND   CO. 

L.  DEARE,  printer. 

1810. 


% 


^^ 


SERMON, 


Whatsoever  things  ai'e  of  good  report, if  there  be  any 

praise,  think  of  these  things Phil.  iv.  8. 

1  HE  supreme  motive,  in  the  heart  of  every  good 
man,  to  honorable  and  worthy  actions,  to  goodness, 
to  virtue,  and  universal  holiness  is,  the  pure  love  of 
goodness,  of  holiness,  and  of  virtue.  The  Spirit  of 
God,  however,  has  not  disdained  to  employ,  as  an 
auxiliary  principle  of  duty,  that  love  of  praise,  or  of 
standing  well  in  the  ophiion  of  our  fellow  men, 
which,  though  common  to  mankind,  is  often  felt 
most  sensibly  by  generous  and  noble  minds. 

As  virtue  presents  to  us  only  what  is  amiable  in 
disposition,  what  is  honorable  and  manly  in  conduct, 
or  what  is  useful  to  society,  it  is  not  wonderful  that 
it  should  be  the  object  of  general  approbation.  In 
like  manner  all  the  noble  endowments  of  our  nature, 
all  distinguished  acquisitions  in  science,  all  extraor- 
dinary efforts  of  genius,  all  great  talents  for  the  man- 
agement of  affairs,  if  they  are  seen  to  be  directed  by 
disinterested  and  virtuous  principles  to  pubHc  good, 


command  the  applause  of  mankind.  And,  in  re- 
turn, the  approbation,  and  esteem  of  our  fellow 
men,  being  among  the  most  precious  rewards  of 
virtue,  in  this  life,  are  also  justly  ranked  among  its 
most  powerful  and  laudable  incentives.  Youth  are 
particularly  susceptible  of  the  influence  of  this  prin- 
ciple. And  praise  may  justly  be  held  out  to  them, 
as  a  motive  to  stimulate  every  improvement  of  their 
natural  talents,  and  their  moral  powers.  Not  that 
false  praise  which  vanity  solicits  for  superficial  or 
frivolous  attainments ;  not  that  corrupted  praise 
which  vice  bestows  on  the  ingenuity  which  is  em- 
ployed to  defend  its  pleasures  ;  nor  those  mistaken 
plaudits  which  the  ignorance  and  passions  of  the 
misguided  multitude  too  often  yield  to  the  art  and 
cunning  which  mislead  them  ; — but  the  praise  which 
is  bottomed  upon  piety  and  virtue  ;  upon  solid  good- 
ness ar.d  usefulness ;  the  praise  of  actions  which  God, 
which  conscience,  which  the  A\'orld,  when  all  their 
ends  and  motives  are  known,  will  approve.  For 
this  reason  the  apostle  has  said,  "  Whatsoever  things 
are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  ^honorable^  whatso- 
ever things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely," 
before  he  adds,  "  if  there  be  'Any  praise,  think  of  these 
things," — that  is,  let  your  desire  of  praise  be  con- 
nected with  truth,  with  honor,  with  justice,  and  with 

*  Th's  is  the  meaning  of  the  ovisjiutvl  word  translated  ho7iecr 
in  our  version. 


all  that  is  amiable  in  life  and  manners.  But  this 
principle,  however  justifiable  and  laudable,  when 
properly  directed,  is  susceptible  al«o  of  great  per- 
version and  abuse  ;  and,  instead  of  invigorating,  and 
unfolding  the  germs  of  goodness  and  worth,  or  of 
greatness  and  nobleness  of  character  in  the  hearts  of 
youth,  may  be  made  the  instrument  of  misleading 
them  into  the  most  pernicious  deviations  from  duty, 
or  inciting  them  to  vice. 

Let  me,  then,  propose  to  your  consideration  the 
love  of  praise  under  two  views. 

I.  As  it  is  a  laudable  and  useful  principle  of  ac- 
tion— and, 

II.  As  it  may  be  corrupted,  and  possess  a  dan- 
gerous influence  on  the  heart. 

1.  The  love  of  praise  has,  evidently,  been  intend- 
ed by  our  Creator  as  one  of  the  most  powerful  in- 
centives to  actions  great  and  honourable  in  them- 
selves, and  beneficial  to  mankind.  No  principle 
raises  human  nature  to  a  higher  tone  of  exertion. 
And  when  all  its  activity  is  directed  to  good  and 
noble  ends,  it  may  justly  be  expected  to  lay  the 
most  solid  and  sure  foundation  for  reputation  and 
esteem  in  every  sphere  of  life.  The  collisions  of 
interest,  indeed,  or  the  predominance  of  party  pas- 
sions may,  for  a  season,  depress  merit,  and  elevate 
imbecility,  or  vice  to  distinction  ; — Vanity  may, 
for  a  time,  be  caressed  by  the  insidious  flatteries  of 
those  who  despise,  while  they  court  it ; — Wealth, 


though  acquired  by  crimes,  may  receive  a  deceitful 
and  interested  homage  from  dependants  ;  the  splen- 
dor of  conquestfiTiay  dazzle  for  a  while  the  misjudg- 
ing world,  and  cover  with  a  false  and  temporary  lus- 
tre, the  iniquities  by  which  they  were  achieved, 
and  the  miseries  which  follow  in  their  train ;  but, 
they  are  talents  guided  by  wisdom  and  piety,  and 
directed  to  promote  the  interests  of  humanit}'^,  which 
unite  the  suftrages  of  all  mankind,  and  embalm  to 
posterity  the  memory  of  good  men,  and  the  fame  of 
the  benefactors  of  nations. 

In  examining  the  principles  of  human  conduct 
we  M'ill  often  find  this  passion  pervading  with  a  use- 
ful influence  all  the  active  springs  of  our  nature.  It 
serves  to  polish  the  manners,  and  circulate  those 
amiable  attentions  which  contribute  so  much  to  the 
pleasure  and  enjoyment  of  life.  The  delicacies  of 
conversation,  the  elegancies,  the  refinements,  the 
charms  of  social  intercourse  which  distinguish  civi- 
lized from  savage  man,  all  spring  from  the  mutual 
desire  of  pleasing  and  the  reflected  hope  of  being- 
respected  and  beloved.  Praise  often  cherishes  in 
the  youthful  breast  the  seeds  of  future  worth, 
and  infuses  into  them  the  principles  of  a  vigorous 
growth.  And  a  generous  emulation  t<j  excel  is 
usually  regarded,  at  that  period,  as  the  presage  of  all 
that  is  wise,  and  virtuous,  and  manly  in  after  life. 
Praise  has  trimmed  the  lamp  of  the  student,  has 
,^aided  and  animated  the  hand  of  the  artist,  and  often 


administered  the  noblest  incentives  to  the  fires  of 
genius.  To  what,  indeed,  do  we  owe  the  poets,  the 
orators,  the  statesmen,  the  patriots,  the  heroes,  who 
have  adorned,  and  shed  a  glory  on  the  respective 
nations  which  have  given  them  birth  ?  1  will  not 
exclude  the  operation  of  other,  and  of  higher  prin- 
ciples in  the  formation  of  many  of  these  great  char- 
acters ;  but  certainly  one,  and  that,  by  no  means 
the  weakest  in  its  influence,  has  been  the  prqud  hope 
of  being  rewarded  with  the  esteem  of  their  country  ; 
or  the  still  prouder  hope  of  enjoying  that  immortali- 
ty in  the  memory  of  men  which  genius  so  often  con- 
fers on  its  possessor ;  or  which  the  public  gratitude 
sometimes  endeavours  to  bestow  on  illustrious  ser- 
vices rendered  to  the  interests  of  humanity.  Those 
nations  have,  accordingly,  flourished  most  who  have 
best  known  how  to  touch  this  powerful  spring  of 
great  and  honorable  actions.  A  statue,  a  tripod, 
a  triumph,  even  a  laurel  crown,  or  an  oaken  wreath, 
bestowed  as  a  mark  of  the  public  favour,  contrib- 
uted to  elevate  the  genius  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
above  that  of  all  other  nations. — What  dangers  will 
not  men  encounter,  what  labors  will  they  not  un- 
dergo, what  self  denials  not  endure,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain a  high  place  in  the  esteem  of  mankind  ?  None 
can  be  entirely  insensible  to  it  except  those  who  are 
conscious  to  themselves  that  they  want  worth  to 
deserve  it.  Base  and  malignant  must  be  that  heart 
which  is  wholly  indifferent  to  th|topinion  of  the 
world. 


The  love  of  praise,  therefore,  when  cherished  in 
its  due  degree,  not  only  incites  the  youth  to  useful 
improvement,  and  prompts  the  man  to  the  perform- 
ance of  actions  of  conspicuous  merit,  but  is  inti- 
mately connected  with  those  respectful  and  benevo- 
lent regards  to  mankind,  which  form  the  finest  ties 
of  human  society.  TFliatsoever  things^  then,  are 
lovely,  in  themselves,  and  in  the  esteem  of  the  worlds 
if  there  be  any  virtue^  and  if  their  be  any  praise 
resting  on  these  amiable  and  solid  foundations,  think 
of  these  things. 

From  so  many  considerations  does  it  appear  that 
the  love  of  praise,  when  directed  to  proper  objects, 
and  preserved  w  ithin  proper  bounds,  is  a  legitimate, 
and  a  laudable  principle  of  action.  Our  blessed 
Saviour  himself,  who  was  the  most  humble  and  self- 
denied  of  men,  has  not  disdained  to  employ  it  as  a 
motive  and  reward  of  good  deeds  in  the  example  of 
the  grateful  sister  of  Lazarus,  who  had  just  given 
him  a  costly  testimony  of  her  affectionate  attach- 
ment : — "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  wheresoever  this 
gospel  sliall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  there 
shall  also  this,  that  this  woman  hath  done,  be  told 
for  a  memorial  of  her."  And  God  hath  denounced 
it  as  a  curse  on  the  w'icked,  that  "  their  name  shall 
rot;'^  but,  "  blessed  shall  be  the  memory  of  the 
just  ;'''*  "  They  shall  be  had  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance.'''' 

As  a  noble  erj|buragement  to  piety,  to  virtue,  to 
philanthropy,  to  the  cuitivation  of  ail  your  intellect- 


ual  and  moral  powers,  remember  that  these  are  the 
qualities  which  chiefly  command  the  esteem  of  man- 
kind, and  procure  for  their  possessor  that  "  good 
name  which  is  better  than  precious  ointment ;"  and 
is  infinitely  more  to  be  valued,  than  the  splendor  of 
riches,  or  of  power.  The  one  is  exposed  to  envy, 
the  other  begets  affection  and  confidence ;  the  one 
may  excite  admiration,  the  other  commands  esteem; 
the  one  may  awaken  in  the  bosom,  the  pride  of  su- 
periority, a  cold  unsocial  sentiment,  the  other  at- 
tracts love,  than  which  a  sweeter  consciousness 
comes  not  to  the  heart.  Riches  and  honors  pass 
away,  or  descend  to  others  who  enjoy  the  benefit, 
and  forget  the  favor.  The  memory  of  a  good  man 
is  precious.  While  he  lives  he  marches  encompass-  - 
ed  with  his  virtues,  which  attract  round  him  the 
hearts  of  his  fellow  citizens  ;  and  when  he  dies,  he 
carries  with  him  their  regrets  and  their  tears. 

Ah  !  did  the  princes  and  rulers  of  the  earth  know 
wherein  their  true  glory  consists  !  They  would  find 
it,  not  in  the  splendors  which  dazzle  the  eyes,  and 
repel  the  groans  of  a  miserable  people  ;  not  in  the 
power  which  imposes  its  yoke  on  subject  nations ; 
not  in  the  mercenary  flatteries  with  which  they  are 
worshipped  in  life ;  nor,  at  death,  in  the  magnifi- 
cent monuments,  and  proud  inscriptions  which  lie 
to  posterity  ;  but  in  the  felicity  of  their  country,  in 
the  blessings  and  prayers  of  nations  made  happy  by 
their  wisdom. —Those  who  have  extorted  bv  arbi- 


10 

trary  force,  or  stolen  by  insidious  arts,  a  false  glory 
during  their  lives,  shall  be  held  up  in  their  true  light 
to  posterity.  Their  private  faults,  the  public  evils 
which  have  flowed  from  their  vices,  will  be  dragged 
from  beneath  the  veil  with  which  power,  or  depen- 
dent adulation  had  attempted  to  cover  them,  and 
condemned,  by  the  faithful  severity  of  history,  to 
the  reprobation  and  contempt  of  future  ages. — But 
the  justice  and  magnanimity  of  great  rulers,  the 
wisdom  and  integrity  of  able  legislators,  and  states- 
men, the  illustrious  actions,  or  the  generous  sacri- 
fices of  patriots  and  heroes,  the  talents  which  have 
adorned  the  age  in  which  they  flourished,  the  extra- 
ordinary mental  powers  which  have  given  direction 
to  the  great  movements  of  the  world  shall,  in  the 
language  of  the  sacred  writer,  he  had  in  everlasting 
remembrance. 

In  every  station  of  life,  then,  in  which  men  may 
be  placed  by  divine  providence,  they  may  justly  re- 
gard an  honest  fame  as  among  the  purest  and  holiest 
motives  of  a  noble  and  virtuous  conduct.  What- 
soever things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be  any  vir- 
tue, if  there  he  any  praise^  think  of  these  things. 

That  a  fliir  reputation  is  a  valuable  possession,  that 
the  love  of  praise,  when  directed  by  just  principles, 
and  preserved  within  due  bounds,  is  not  only  an  al- 
lowable but  a  laudable  motive  of  action,  will  not  be 
denied.  But,  like  all  the  best  propensities  and  pow- 
ers of  our  nature,  it  is  capable  of  being  perverted^ 


11 

and  it  often  is  perverted,  to  ends  very  different  from 
those  for  which  it  was  implanted  in  the  heart  of  man 
by  his  Creator. 

2.  Of  its  abuses,  therefore,  I  am  next  to  speak. 

It  may  be  excessive.  It  may  be  ill  directed,  and 
become  the  minister  of  vice. 

The  praise  of  men,  as  has  been  already  said,  far 
from  being  the  governing  motive  of  our  conduct, 
should  only  be  auxiliary  to  the  pure  love  of  virtue, 
and  a  pious  submission  of  heart  to  the  will,  and  the 
law  of  God.  It  should  be  subordinate,  as  a  princi- 
ple of  action,  even  to  the  approbation  of  our  own 
consciences,  and  to  that  self  respect  which  it  will 
ever  be  the  care  of  a  wise  and  good  man  to  cultivate. 
The  noblest  enjoyment  of  virtue  and  piety,  next  to 
the  sense  of  the  favor  of  God,  is  derived  from  the 
conscious  rectitude  of  our  own  conduct ;  and  that 
inward  tranquility  and  peace  which  a  self  approving 
conscience  sheds  through  the  whole  soul.  A  good 
man  will  always  be  able  to  rest  upon  himself,  if  the 
caprice  of  tlie  world  should  deny  him  his  honest 
fame,  or  even  the  malignant  arts  of  his  enemies  should 
succeed  for  a  time,  to  overwhelm  him  with  calumnies. 

The  desire  of  praise,  when  it  becomes  excessive, 
and  this  is  its  first  abuse,  puts  your  happiness  too 
much  in  the  power  of  others,  both  for  your  com- 
fort and  your  duty.  For  although  great  talents  will 
generally  be  admired,  and  virtue  esteemed ;  yet, 
many  events  may  occur  to  rob  the  best  of  men  of 


12 

that  reputation  to  which  their  merits  justly  entitle 
them.  They  may  be  sunk  in  obscurity ;  they  may 
be  thrown,  in  the  course  of  providence,  into  situa- 
tions unfavorable  to  the  display  of  their  talents,  or 
their  virtues.  Ignorance  may  not  be  able  to  appre- 
ciate them  ;  prejudice  may  distort  them  ;  misfortune 
may  cast  them  under  a  cloud ;  party  passions  may 
taint  them  ;  slander  may  tarnish  them  ;  envy  may 
corrode  them ;  the  unsuspecting  candor,  frankness, 
and  honesty  of  the  most  innocent  minds  may  often 
lay  them  open  to  the  attacks  of  artful,  and  design- 
ing enemies.  Beware,  then,  of  setting  your  heart 
too  fondly  on  a  possession  so  perishable  and  uncer- 
tain. For  if  you  fail  to  attain  it,  by  having  formed 
a  wrong  estimate  of  your  own  powers,  or  the  opin- 
ions of  the  world ;  or  if  you  should  be  deprived  of 
it,  by  the  arts  of  rivals,  or  of  enemies,  you  will  be 
overwhelmed  with  anguish.  But,  seek  first  the 
praise  of  God,  and  of  your  own  hearts.  Hence  you 
will  derive  the  truest  and  most  lasting  happiness. 
And  although  the  approbation  of  your  fellow  men 
would  be  a  sweet  ingredient  in  the  enjoyment  of 
life  ;  yet,  the  want  of  it  will,  in  that  case,  inflict  no 
fatal  wound  on  your  peace  ;  you  will  have  a  happi- 
ness secured,  above  the  arts  of  malice,  and  the 
storms  of  misfortune. 

It  deserves  to  be  particularly  remarked,  in  the 
next  place,  when  this  passion  becomes  too  visible, 
mankind  often  take  a  pleasure  in  disappointing  our 


13 

vanity.  And  the  truth  is,  vanity  forfeits  a  great 
part  of  the  esteem  which  would  otherwise  be  paid-to 
the  virtues  with  which  it  is  sometimes  connected. 
Not  even  the  splendid  talents,  and  illustrious  ser- 
vices of  Cicero,  could  save  him  from  the  contempt 
and  ridicule  of  his  cotemporaries.  When  he  would 
have  it  believed  that  he  was  wholly  devoted  to  the 
republic,  he  seemed  to  be  not  less  devoted  to  his 
own  glory,  and  was  thought  by  many  of  his  country- 
men, to  be  a  patriot  only  for  fame. 

To  repress  still  further  the  criminal  excess  of  this 
passion,  which  invades  that  supremacy  of  duty  and 
love  which  we  owe  to  God,  reflect  how  often  is  praise 
unjustly  withheld,  by  ignorant  or  envious  men,  from 
your  most  deserving  qualities,  or  your  most  merito- 
rious actions ;  how  often  it  is  injudiciously  bestow- 
ed upon  the  undeserving ;  how  often  it  is  given  to 
the  most  frivolous  accomplishments  ;  how  often  it  is 
won  by  the  most  superficial  appearances  of  merit ; 
how  often  it  is  stolen  from  the  multitude  by  base 
compliances,  and  hypocritical  professions  ;  and  how 
often,  if  you  possess  power,  or  wealth,  or  beauty,  it 
is  impossible  to  distinguish  sycophancy  from  esteem, 
and  flattery  from  sincere  attachment. — Reflect  more- 
over, that  the  breath  of  mortals,  however  soothing 
to  our  vanity,  cannot  soothe  the  cold  ear  of  death, 
or  follow  us  beyond  the  grave.  If  it  hangs  over  our 
tombs  for  a  few  moments,  like  a  light  vapour,  it  is 
soon  dissipated  by  the  passions  which  occupy  and 


u 

iigitate  the  surviving  world,  or  sinks  down  in  the 
chili  night  of  an  eternal  oblivion.  Nothing  but  the 
testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  and  a  sincete  trust  in 
the  Redeemer,  can  support  the  soul  when  all  human 
things  are  passing  away,  and  it  finds  itself  entering 
alone  through  the  valley  of  shades*  into  the  eternal 
world. — Let  not  the  praise  of  men,  therefore,  if  you 
receive  it,  unduly  elate  you ;  nor,  if  it  is  withheld, 
be  too  much  depressed,  if  you  have  the  much  higher 
praise  of  your  conscience,  of  your  works,  and  of 
God. — 

As  the  love  of  praise,  when  it  is  suffered  to  hold 
too  high  a  place  in  the  heart,  will  necessarily  disap- 
point you,  and  will  often  defeat  its  own  aims ;  so, 
by  receiving  a  wrong  direction,  it  becomes  the  min- 
ister of  sin. 

If  the  applauses  of  those  with  whom  you  associ- 
ate  are  the  chief  objects  of  your  ambition.  What 
temptations  do  they  not  lay  in  your  way,  when  you 
happen  unfortunately  to  be  connected  with  men  who 
substitute  fashion  for  duty,  and  who  justify  vice  by 
example?  Your  contempt  of  religion,  and  of  sober 
manners  will,  in  such  connexions,  often  outrun 
fashion  itself;  you  will  be  ambitious  to  obtrude 
your  example  among  the  first  in  every  modish  scene 
of  dissipation. 

*  The  valley  of  shades,  was  the  name  by  which  a  dark  vale, 
not  far  from  Jerusalem,  was  distinguished,  which  furnished  to 
the  sacred  poet  the  allusion  contained  in  this  figure. 


15 

But,  most  dangerous  is  this  passion  in  the  asso= 
ciations  of  young  men,  who  are  yet  in  the  full  tide 
of  folly ;  whose  reason  has  not  been  enlightened, 
and  whose  passions  have  not  been  chastened  by  ex- 
perience ;  who  mistake  sprightliness  for  wit,  and 
effrontery  for  talent.  Here,  he  who  can  point  out 
new  roads  to  pleasure  ;  he  who  can  most  ingeniously 
defend  the  vices  of  fashion,  or  with  the  greatest  dex- 
terity wield  a  stroke  against  the  authority  or  the  doc- 
trines of  religion  ;  he  who  is  most  daring  in  his  own 
conduct  to  overleap  the  bounds  prescribed  by  the 
prudence  of  wisdom,  and  the  caution  of  experience, 
will  always  be  encouraged  with  thoughtless  and 
giddy  applause.  Leaders  in  vice  who  are  bold  and 
assuming,  ever  meet  with  followers  and  imitators, 
sooner  perhaps,  than  the  patrons  and  examples  of 
virtue  and  piety,  who  are  modest  and  retiring. 
Here,  in  the  noisy  plaudits  of  your  companions,  you 
will  learn  to  drown  the  voice  of  conscience,  and  the 
awful  menaces  of  religion  ;  here  will  you  soon  be 
incited  ostentatiously  to  trample  on  the  restraints, 
which  you  miscall  the  prejudices,  of  a  pious  educa- 
tion; and  to  contemn  the  sober  opinion  of  the  world. 
You  will  affect  to  be  more  impious  and  profligate 
than  you  are,  till  you  become  as  profligate  and  im- 
pious as  you  affect  to  be.  Ah !  how  many  unhappy 
youth,  aspiring  to  distinction  among  such  associates, 
have  precipitated  their  own  destruction  ! 

Looking  a  little  higher,  among  the  ranks  of  litera- 
ture, and  turning  over  the  volumes  of  infidelity> 


16 

and  immorality,  which  the  press  has  so  copiously 
poured  upon  the  present  age,  I  say  to  myself  of 
these  pernicious  writings,  that  spring  from  the  cor- 
rupt  affections  of  the  heart,  How  many  have  their 
immediate  source  in  that  vanity  which  aspires  to 
gain  the  reputation  of  superior  wit,  and  strength  of 
mind,  by  attacking  all  ancient  systems,  by  boldly 
assailing  the  sacred  doctrines  of  religion,  and  main- 
taining every  extravagant  novelty  of  opinion.  All 
the  libertine,  all  the  vain,  all  who  are  lovers  of  plea- 
sure more  than  lovers  of  God ;  that  is,  unhappily,  the 
greater  portion  of  all  the  higher  circles  of  society, 
are  n^ady  to  extol  with  excessive  praise,  and  crowa 
witl^aurels  of  genius,  the  authors  who  would  eman- 
cipate them  from  the  thraldom  of  religious  fear,  and 
lay  the  spectres  which  haunt  the  gloom  of  the  grave. 
In  an  age  of  luxury  and  pleasure,  this  misapplication 
of  talent  opens  an  easy  path  to  that  airy  temple 
which  false  wit,  and  superficial  science,  have  erected 
on  an  humble  eminence,  decorated  with  artificial 
flowers,  in  opposition  to  the  genuine  temple  of 
Fame,  planted  on  the  summit  of  an  arduous  cliff, 
the  ascent  to  which  is  always  difficult  and  laborious. 
The  incessant  applauses  of  the  giddy  throng  who 
surround  it  below,  seduce  a  crowd  of  authors,  who 
hasten  thither  to  offer  their  works  on  the  altars  of 
vice. — Alas  !  deplorable  talents  !  corrupted  while 
the}^  corrupt !  Applauded  by  those  only  whom  they 
rire  helping  to  destroy  ! 


17 

In  the  false  and  pernicious  direction  given  to  this 
passion,  in  the  next  place,  we  may  find  the  cause  of 
many  of  those  disorders  which,  in  all  ages,  have  dis- 
turbed the  tranquillity  of  free  governments.  Often 
it  created  the  most  dangerous  ferments  in  the  little 
republics  of  Greece.  And  we  do  not  want  exam- 
ples among  ourselves  of  the  most  odious  factions  ex- 
cited, and  nourished  by  this  principle.  It  is  not 
always  the  love  of  a  little  brief  authority,  nor  even 
the  mean  avarice  of  gaining  a  few  extraordinary 
emoluments  in  the  public  service,  which  sets  your 
consequential  and  restless  demagogues  on  work, 
(although  not  a  small  proportion  of  our  pretended 
patriots  are  governed  by  these  unworthy  motives), 
but,  frequently,  vain  men,  with  no  other  talents  than 
presumption  and  loquacity,  are  ambitious  of  obtrud- 
ing themselves  into  public  view.  Restless,  and  am- 
bitious of  vulgar  praise,  they  declaim,  they  harangue, 
they  endeavour  to  seize  on  some  popular  topic  to  stir 
the  commonality  into  violence  and  frenzy.  The 
best  characters  are  the  subjects  of  dieir  slander  ;  the 
best  measures  they  find  some  low  and  mercenary- 
ground  of  defaming  ;  while  they  study  to  raise  into 
a  flame  a  fickle,  envious  and  ignorant  populace,  with 
whom  a  violent  and  wordy  zeal  is  generally  the  proof 
of  patriotism.  Little  scrupulous  of  the  means  they 
employ  to  accomplish  their  end,  the  public  good, 
which  is  their  loudest  pretence,  is  their  least  concern. 
All  their  object  is  to  rise  into  favor  on  the  agitated 
c 


18 

tide.  And,  for  a  while,  perhaps,  they  ride  in  tri- 
umph, supported  on  the  bubbles  they  have  raised. 
The  bubbles  soon  break  under  them,  and  leave  them 
to  sink  into  their  native  obscurity  ;  other  favorites, 
then,  not  less  ambitious,  and,  possibly,  more  un- 
principled than  themselves,  agitate  this  multitudin- 
ous ocean  by  a  new  storm.  They  hurl  their  prede- 
cessors into  the  troubled  waves,  in  the  midst  of 
which,  like  them,  they  ride,  for  a  little  while,  till, 
in  their  turn,  they  are  precipitated  by  new  pretend- 
ers. In  the  mean  time,  their  country  suffers  innu- 
merable evils  ;  till,  at  last,  they  make  the  very  name 
of  patriotism  to  be  abhorred ;  and  the  distracted, 
and  so  often  deluded  people,  seek  some  dreadful 
remedy  for  these  political  disorders  at  length  become 
intolerable. 

But,  perhaps,  a  still  more  deplorable  effect  of  this 
misguided  passion,  is  seen  when  it  ascends  to  the 
very  seat  of  Moses  and  the  apostles,  and  corrupts, 
in  the  mouths  of  the  teachers  of  reli^on,  the  purity 
and  simplicity  of  its  truths.  On  this  subject  two 
opposite  evils  often  dishonor  the  sanctuary  of  truth. 
While  some,  studious  only  to  please  the  circles  of 
polite  fashion,  prophesy  smooth  things,  and  bring 
down  the  standard  of  evangelic  morality  to  what 
fashion  prescribes,  or  the  delicacy  of  luxury  will 
bear ;  others,  destitute  of  talents  to  edify  the  church 
of  God  by  the  extent  and  variety  of  their  knowledge, 
or   the  powers  of  a   cultivated  elocution,  address. 


19 

themselves  to  catch  the  applause  of  zeal  from  the 
misjudging  multitude,  who  seldom  are  able  to  dis- 
tinguish an  assumed  fervor  from  the  genuine  warmth 
of  sincere  piety.  With  noise,  with  rant,  with  ter- 
ror, by  whatever  engines  will  move  and  agitate  rude 
minds,  but  equally  distant  from  the  genuine  spirit  of 
religion  as  the  vicious  complaisance  of  the  former, 
they  pursue  their  unworthy  ends.  There  are  dem- 
agogues in  religion  as  well  as  in  politics,  whose  chief 
aim  it  is  to  render  themselves  conspicuous  in  a  party. 
But  all  the  flashings  of  their  fiery  zeal  cannot  con- 
ceal from  a  true  discerner  of  the  human  heart,  the 
vanity  and  self-love  which,  under  the  mask  of 
humble  devotion,  are  helping  to  blow  the  flame, 
for  the  purposes  of  their  own  vanity.  Among 
all  impieties,  hardly  can  one  be  mentioned  more 
odious  to  Heaven,  and  to  all  good  men,  than  thus  to 
stand  up  in  the  temples,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Most 
High,  only  to  seek  our  own  glory.  To  soften  down 
to  the  taste  of  fashionable  pleasure,  on  the  one  hand, 
those  holy  and  eternal  truths  on  which  depends  the 
salvation  of  immortal  souls  ;  or,  on  the  other,  to 
convert  the  humble,  devout,  and  reasonable  service 
of  the  living  God  into  the  frantic  bowlings  of  the 
idolatrous  worshippers  of  Moloch,  or  of  Dagon.  I 
know  not  which  should  most  shock  a  rational  and 
pious  mind,  to  see  an  Adonis  present  himself,  like 
a  servant  of  the  Graces,  before  the  awful  altars  of 
Jehovah ;  or  to  see  an  ignorant  and  presumptuous 
mortal  throwing  himself  into  a  counterfeited  frenzy ; 


20 

dealing  out  the  denunciations  of  Heaven  on  his  fel- 
low creatures,  according  as  his  own  passions  impel 
him ;  approaching  his  Creator  and  Redeemer  with 
the  most  indecent  familiarities  of  expression  ;  and 
pouring  forth  his  own  incoherent  rhapsodies,  instead 
oi  the  rvords  of  truth  cmd  soberness  ; — Those  divine 
truths  which  Ave  ought  always  to  touch  with  the  same 
reverence  and  awe,  with  which  the  priests  of  Israel 
approached  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  or  Aaron  and 
his  sons  entered  into  the  holy  of  holies. — Oh  !  im- 
piety !  thus  hypocritically  to  employ  religion  to  serve 
the  base  purposes  of  our  own  vanity !  to  dare  attempt 
to  make  God,  if  I  may  speak  so,  pander  to  our  vile 
praise  ! — 

Thus  the  love  of  praise,  when  it  is  excessive,  or 
ill  directed,  may,  in  many  ways,  corrupt  the  heart. 
We  have  often  seen  it,  when  lavishly  and  indiscreet- 
ly bestowed,  deprave  those  excellent  dispositions 
which  at  first  deserved  it.  Acquired,  in  the  begin- 
ning, by  the  exercise  of  the  most  modest  virtues, 
it  has  at  last  inflated  the  heart  with  an  odious 
vanity,  and  created  a  spirit  self- conceited,  arro- 
gant, and  intractable.  Ah!  how  little  does  vanity, 
or  pride,  become  a  man  in  the  midst  of  his  fellow 
men!  a  brother  in  the  midst  of  his  brethren  ! — -above 
all,  a  worm  of  die  dust  in  the  presence  of  the  infi- 
nite Creator ! 

But  though  the  love  of  praise  when  it  is  exces- 
sive,  or  misplaced,  is  attended  with  so  many  evils 


21 

and  dangers,  yet  have  we  seen  it,  when  properly 
regulated,  ever  united  with  a  generous  emulation  to 
excel,  and  become  the  parent  of  the  most  valuable 
improvements  in  society,  and  of  the  highest  virtues-- 
Separate  it  from  the  pernicious  principles  with  which 
it  is  often  conjoined,  and  I  will  again  and  again  re- 
peat, with  the  apostle, — "  Whatsoever  things  are  of 
good  report ;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  if  there  be  any 
praise,  think  of  these  things." 

But,  it  is  time  to  address  myself  to  the  last  duty 
of  this  day,  giving  my  parting  counsels  to  those 
youth  who  have  just  finished  their  course  of  studies 
in  this  institution,  and  offering  up  for  them  my  most 
fervent  prayers. 

Youjig  Gentlemen, 

We  now  touch  on  the  last  moments  of  our  union 
as  instructor,  and  as  pupils.  It  is  a  moment  always 
accompanied  with  many  serious  reflections.  You 
are  parting  from  the  retirements  of  your  studies. 
The  vast,  and  various  prospect  of  life  is  before  you, 
with  all  its  uncertainties  and  dangers,  its  hopes  and 
disappointments,  its  rivalships  and  contentions,  its 
labors,  and  its  duties.  I  look  upon  you  like  a  mari- 
ner who  has  just  passed  an  agitated  ocean,  while  you 
are,  as  yet,  only  launching  amidst  the  waves.  He 
hopes,  he  prays  for  the  success  of  so  many  young 
and  ardent  adventurers  ;  but  he  trembles  at  the 
hazards  in  which  he  knows  you  will  presently  be  in- 


22 

volved.  At  a  moment,  then,  in  which  many  recol- 
lections and  anticipations  naturally  press  upon  the 
mind  to  dispose  it  to  solemnity,  and  to  awaken  in 
our  bosoms  many  tender,  as  well  as  serious  emotions, 
may  I  not  hope  that  instructions  to  which  you  have 
often  listened  with  deference,  will  make  upon  your 
hearts  a  more  lasting  impression  than  on  ordinary 
occasions. 

In  the  course  of  your  studies  it  has  ever  been  an 
object  with  the  government  of  this  institution  to 
nourish  in  your  bosoms  a  generous  emulation  to  ex- 
cel, and  to  fan  that  love  of  praise,  which,  united 
with  the  love  of  science,  and  the  nobler  sentiments 
of  duty,  would  stimulate  you  to  the  highest  exertion 
of  the  best  powers  and  faculties  of  your  nature. 
Still  continue  to  cherish  that  useful  principle  which 
will  impel  you  forward  in  the  career  of  honorable 
improvement.  In  the  youthful  breast  it  can  hardly 
be  excessive.  Not  yet  tainted  by  the  envy  of  rival- 
ship,  or  the  intrigues  of  ambition,  which  so  often 
corrupt  tlie  passions  of  riper  years,  its  earliest  ten- 
dencies are  to  lead  you  to  virtue  ;  to  prompt  you  to 
the  cultivation  of  every  talent,  the  acquisition  of  eve- 
ry accomplishment  which  will  awaken  in  your  favor, 
on  all  sides,  the  voice  of  praise.  How  lovely  is 
youth  when  we  behold  in  it  all  the  symptoms  of  a 
virtuous  sensibility  ;  all  the  ardor  of  a  generous  em- 
ulation ;  all  the  noble  purposes  of  duty ;  all  the 
modest  consciousness  at  once  of  worth,  and  of  the 


23 

imperfection  of  its  attainments ;  all  the  auguries  of 
future  honor,  and  usefulness  ! 

Cultivate  a  generous  love  of  praise.  At  your  age, 
it  will  be  a  powerful  incentive  to  virtue  :  to  genius 
it  will  be  like  the  animating  rays  of  the  sun,  which 
give  life,  action,  and  energy  to  the  whole  creation. 

What  then  are  those  qualities  which  procure  for 
their  possessor  the  highest  honor  and  distinction 
among  men  ?  Are  they  not  the  great  endowments 
of  the  mind,  and  the  good  affections  of  the  heart  ? 
On  a  noble  magnanimity,  on  diffusive  benevolence, 
on  unshaken  integrity,  on  a  warm,  rational,  and 
dignified  piety,  on  extensive  science,  on  a  power- 
ful and  manly  eloquence,  on  the  masterly  ability  of 
combining  and  applying  all  the  branches  of  know- 
ledge for  the  purposes  of  public  utility,  are  founded 
the  most  solid  claims  to  public  honor  and  respect. 
Superficial  talents,  and  showy  but  hollow  preten- 
sions, may  deceive  the  multitude  for  a  moment ;  but 
experience  and  time,  which  disclose  the  true  char- 
acters of  men,  and  the  sounder  judgments  of  the 
wise,  which  ultimately  prevail  over  hasty  and  ill 
founded  opinions,  will  strip  from  them  the  laurels 
with  which  ignorance  had  crowned  them. 

It  is  the  union  of  talents  with  virtue  which  forms 
the  true  foundation  of  lasting  praise.  Virtue  will 
procure  for  you  higher  confidence  from  your  fellow 
citizens,  talents  spread  round  you  greater  lustre. 
It  is  on  the  union  of  both  that  you  should  build  your 
hopes  of  honor  and  esteem. 


24 

Be  not  in  haste,  then,  to  enter  on  the  exercise  of 
those  various  liberal  professions  to  which  most  of 
you  intend  hereafter  to  devote  your  faculties  Wait 
with  patience  the  developement  of  the  full  powers  of 
your  minds;  and  continue  long  to  collect,  with  per- 
severing industry,  from  every  source,  the  treasures 
of  knowledge,  which  are  necessary  to  fit  you  to  ap- 
pear with  distinction  and  eminence,  before  you  ad- 
vance into  the  public  theatre  of  life.  A  prudent  de- 
lay will,  in  the  end,  be  gaining  both  time  and  re- 
putation. But  if  you  are  impatient  to  display  your 
talents,  or  to  enter  on  the  acquisition  of  a  pitiful 
gain,  and  therefore  content  yourselves  with  hasty 
and  superficial  preparations,  you  will  probably  march 
through  your  whole  course  with  feeble,  nerveless, 
and  obscure  efforts,  which,  if  they  do  not  cover  you 
with  contempt,  will,  at  least,  leave  you  sunk  among 
the  vulgar  throng  who  make  up  the  mass,  or  drag  at 
the  tail  of  their  respective  professions. 

Whence  is  it  that  we  hear  from  the  pulpit  so  many 
insipid,  and  common-place  discourses,  without  illu- 
mination to  gratify  the  understanding,  and  without 
energy  to  impress  the  heart  ?  Seldom,  perhaps,  is 
it  to  be  ascribed  to  the  absolute  defect  of  natural 
talents ;  but  to  the  want  of  due  preparation  for  dis- 
charging honorably  and  usefully  the  functions  of  this 
holy  office.  Whence  is  it  that  many  a  young 
preacher,  after  being  well  received  for  a  few  dis- 
courses, becomes  at  last  spiritless,  and  insipid,  and 
.addresses  only  fatigued,  and  listless  audiences^    He 


25 

has  exhausted  his  scanty  intellectual  funds,  and  has 
nothing  new  to  produce  from  his  impoverished  trea- 
sury. 

Whence  is  it  that  the  noble  and  dignified  science 
of  justice,  so  often  degenerates  into  a  pitiful  petti- 
fogging and  chicanery  ?  Young  men,  without  dili- 
gence and  application,  meanly  furnished  with  ju- 
ridical knowledge,  and  destitute  of  the  rich  and  va- 
ried powers  of  eloquence  derived  from  a  general  ac- 
quaintance with  other  arts,  have  addicted  themsel- 
ves only  to  the  meagre  forms,  and  the  dishonorable 
quibbles  of  the  law. — And  is  it  not  lamentable  to 
see,  in  so  many  instances,  men,  ignorant  of  the  first 
elements  of  civil  and  political  science,  presuming  to 
prescribe  laws  to  the  republic ;  and  pretending, 
without  the  smallest  consciousness  of  their  own  in- 
sufficiency, to  direct  the  relations,  and  settle  the  jar- 
ring interests  of  the  state  with  foreign  nations  !  In- 
terests, relations,  laws,  which  require  a  consummate 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  civil  society,  the  most 
extensive  information  concerning  the  political,  com- 
mercial, and  military  state  of  the  civilized  world, 
the  most  vigorous  powers  of  combination,  a  penetra- 
tion which  pervades  at  a  single  glance  the  most  com- 
plicated systems;  a  comprehension  able  to  embrace  at 
one  view  the  most  remote  consequences  ;  a  p^pi- 
cacity  fitted  to  unravel  the  most  intricate  questions 
of  policy. 

Among  your  most  valuable  attainmentf  let  me 

D 


26 

add,  that  it  is  especially  important,  in  a  free  coun- 
try, to  cultivate  a  forcible  and  persuasive  eloquence. 
I  may  surely  address  myself  to  an  American  scho- 
lar in  the  language  which  Sir  William  Jones  has 
used  to  a  Young  British  nobleman  whom  he  was  de- 
sirous of  training  up  to  the  knowledge  and  manage- 
ment of  public  affairs.  "  I  am  fully  convinced,  says 
he,  that  an  Englishman's  real  importance  in  his 
country  will  always  be  in  a  compound  ratio  of  his 
virtue,  his  knowledge,  and  his  eloquence,  without 
all  of  which  qualities  little  real  utility  can  result  from 
either  of  them  apart." 

But,  remember,  it  is  not  the  noisy  declamation 
of  a  town-meeting,  nor  the  crude  and  incoherent 
garrulity  which  so  often  fatigues  the  attention,  and 
delays  the  public  busines,  in  our  legislatures,  which 
will  enable  an  orator  to  combine  the  great  interests, 
and  guide  the  movements  of  a  nation.  To  perform 
this  with  success  he  should  thoroughly  comprehend 
those  interests,  he  should  possess  a  perspicacious 
mind,  clearly  to  develope  them,  he  should  be  able 
to  foresee,  and  to  obviate  all  difficulties  which  will 
oppose  the  execution  of  his  plans,  he  should  derive 
light  and  information  from  all  ages,  he  should  un- 
derstand the  true  character,  powers,  and  resources 
of  His  country,  he  should  discern  the  best  means  of 
drawing  them  i|ito  operation,  he  should  knOw  liow 
to  touch  all  the  springs  of  human  action.  Behold 
what  a  ^eid  is  before  the  real   statesman !     These 


27 

were  the  powers  which  gave  Demosthenes  so  great 
an  ascendant  over  all  the  corrupted  politicians,  and 
noisy  demagogues  of  Athens.  These  were  the  pow- 
ers which  made  even  the  most  polished  orators,  who 
knew  only  the  modulation  of  periods,  and  charmed 
the  ear  without  enlightening  the  understanding,  yield 
to  his  superior  illumination  and  energy.  He  did 
not  deem  it  sufficient  to  declaim  with  angry  and 
boastful  vehemence  against  the  public  enemy.  This 
would  have  been  an  easy  task  to  a  far  inferior  ora- 
tor. He  penetrated  and  displayed  the  artful  designs 
of  the  Macedonian  king; — he  unfolded  the  true  in- 
terests of  Greece ;  he  pourtrayed  in  strong  colours 
the  storm  which  impended  over  his  country,  he 
pointed  out,  at  the  same  time  the  resources  with 
which  she  was  able  to  meet  and  dispel  it ;  he  shew- 
ed to  Athens  her  own  strength ;  he  entered  into  the 
minutest  details  of  her  finance  ;  he  understood  the 
views  and  intrigues  of  every  state  which  could  aifect 
the  interests  of  his  own  country ;  he  knew  how  to 
resuscitate  from  the  slumbers  of  luxury,  the  ancient 
vigor  of  the  republic  ;  all  the  stores  of  history  were 
open  to  his  use ;  all  the  lights  of  science,  all  the  pow- 
ers of  language,  were  summoned  to  his  aid.-— Were 
these  mighty  effects  the  fruit  of  superficial  attain- 
ments, of  hasty  studies,  of  precipitately  intruding 
himself  into  the  management  of  affairs  ?  You  know 
his  history — ^liis  labors ;  his  long  continued,  and 
intense  application ;  his  obstinate  conflicts  with  the 


28 

difficulties  which  nature  opposed  to  his  success. 
But  he  resolved  to  become  the  first  statesman,  and 
orator  in  Greece ;  and  he  became  so.  But,  why- 
propose  such  an  illustrious  and  transcendant  exam- 
ple to  young  men  who,  as  yet,  are  only  entering  on 
their  literary  career  ? — Because  every  young  man, 
who  desires  to  excel,  should,  from  the  beginning, 
have  his  view  and  his  ambition  fixed  on  the  highest 
models.  But  this  example,  while  it  is  calculated 
to  excite  the  ardor  of  your  emulation,  is  fitted  also 
to  encourage  your  hopes,  and  may  serve  to  shew 
you  how  much  is  in  your  poAver.  For  it  is  a  maxim 
which  ought  to  be  engraven  on  the  heart  of  every 
ingenuous  youth  to  whom  nature  has  not  been  ex- 
traordinarily deficient  in  her  gifts,  that,  like  the 
Athenian  orator  he  can  accomplish  whatever  he  is 
firmly  resolved  to  do. 

But,  let  me  add,  that  the  love  of  praise,  when  it 
is  not  made  the  handmaid  of  vanity,  but  is  modest 
and  well-directed,  will  make  you  studious  especially 
to  gain  the  approbation  of  those  whom  it  is  your 
duty,  and  whom  it  will  be  your  chief  honor  and  hap- 
piness to  please.  To  be  ever  ready  to  do  good  to 
the  lowest  of  mankind  is  an  exalted  virtue  ;  but  to 
be  ambitious  of  the  applauses  of  the  ignorant  and 
fickle  multitude  is  a  low  aim ;  and  to  collect  them 
is  not  a  difficult  task  to  those  who  can  stoop  to  the 
dishonorable  arts  which  are  necessary  for  this  pur- 
purpose.     Be  it  your  ambition  to  deserve  the  esteem 


29 

of  the  wise  and  good,  whose  opinion  will  stamp  a 
worth  upon  your  name.  Cultivating  their  esteem, 
you  will  be  supported  also  by  the  consciousness  of 
your  own  hearts ; — That  noble  consciousness  which 
God  has  made,  next  to  his  own  approbation,  the 
most  precious  reward  of  virtue ;  and  which  will  con- 
sole you  like  Socrates,  and  like  Phocion,  or,  to  take 
a  higher  example,  like  Daniel,  if,  at  any  time,  the 
malignant  arts  of  rivals,  or  of  enemies  should  pre. 
vail  against  you. 

Prepare  to  deserve,  hereafter,  the  approbation  of 
your  country  by  meritorious  and  distinguished  ser- 
vices, as  so  many  of  the  sons  of  the  college  have 
done  who  once  occupied  the  place  in  which  you  now 
stand.  Men  who  have  not  enjoyed  the  advantages 
of  liberal  culture  are  permitted  to  confine  their  views 
to  a  narrow  sphere.  But  education  imposes  higher 
duties  on  her  sons,  and  enforces  them  by  the  sub- 
limest  examples.  Patriotism  was  the  first  of  virtues 
to  a  Greek,  or  a  Roman.  He  sucked  it  in  with  his 
first  milk ;  he  inhaled  it  with  his  vital  breath ;  to 
strengthen  this  passion  all  his  studies,  his  discipline, 
his  exercises  were  directed. 

But  passing  all  other  considerations,  permit  me 
to  press  upon  you  one  which  cannot  fail  to  touch  the 
lieiTt  of  an  ingei^iUs  youth.  Among  your  highest 
aims  let  it  ever  be,  to  deserve  the  praise,  and  the 
love  oftjiose  to  whom,  immediately,  you  owe  your 
existence  ;  and  who  have  the  deepest  stake  in  your 
honor  and  felicity. 


30 

The  sweetest  recompence  which,  as  dutiful  sons, 
you  can  receive  for  all  the  self-denials  of  your  early 
virtues,  must  be  to  witness  the  happiness,  and  the 
honest  pride  of  those  who  have  loved  you  with  su. 
preme  tenderness,  whose  hearts  have  throbbed  with 
ten  thousand  anxieties  over  your  inexperienced 
years,  who  have  made  so  many  painful  sacrifices  to 
your  education,  when  they  behold  all  their  sacri- 
fices, their  anxieties,  their  love,  repaid  by  your  du- 
ty, and  rewarded  by  your  improvement.  I  seem  to 
participate  with  them  the  tender  delight,  the  sweet 
rapture  in  which  they  are  dissolved,  when  they  be- 
lieve they  are  embracing  in  their  arms  their  worthy 
sons.  If  the  world  were  filled  with  your  praises, 
methinks  the  idea  dearest  to  you,  must  be  the  deli- 
cious pride  which  your  reputation  and  honor  must 
reflect  to  the  heart  of  an  affectionate  parent.  Ah  ! 
what  a  motive  to  improvement !  what  a  reward  for 
excelling !  The  most  amiable  trait  in  the  character 
of  the  great  Epaminondas  was  his  filial  piety.  Be- 
ing asked  which  was  the  happiest  circumstance  in  a 
life  distinguished,  as  his  was,  by  illustrious  deeds, 
and  the  admiration  of  his  countrymen ;  "it  was, 
says  he,  that  after  my  victory  at  Leuctra  my  father 
and  mother  were  both  living  lo  enjoy  the  honors  paid 
me  by  my  fellow  citizens."  If  '^fjj^  virtue  displays 
a  more  resplendent  lustre  surrounded  with  the  glory 
of  heroic  actions,  yet  this  lovely  sentimentlinmy 
opinion,  confers  more  real  greatness  on  the  Theban 


31 

hero  than  all  his  victories.  The  thought  of  render- 
ing happy  a  father,  or  a  mother  by  our  own  virtues 
and  honors,  how  precious  to  the  heart  of  a  dutiful 
son !  There  are  no  personal  gratifications  he  would 
not  forego,  there  are  no  sacrifices  he  would  not  make, 
to  enjoy  it.  But  why  do  I  speak  of  sacrifices? 
When  it  is  your  own  virtue,  honor,  reputation, 
when  it  is,  in  a  word,  your  own  happiness  which 
makes  them  happy. — Imagine  you  see  the  tear  of 
tenderness  and  delight  start  in  their  eyes  at  these 
your  first  honors ;  and,  with  their  venerable  and  be- 
loved forms  before  you,  resolve  that  they  never  shall 
have  cause  to  blush  for  their  sons. 

But  if,  in  any  instance,  they  have  already  descend- 
ed to  the  tomb,  and  left  you  to  maintain  the  honor 
of  their  families,  let  your  virtues  prove  the  noblest 
monument  to  their  memory. 

Would  to  God  that  I  could  inspire  this  pure  and 
virtuous  sentiment  into  the  bosom  of  every  Ameri- 
can youth !  It  would,  along  with  religion,  to  which 
it  is  intimately  allied,  be  the  surest  foundation  of  the 
prosperity  and  glory  of  my  country. — "  Honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother,  saith  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the 
people  of  Israel,  that  thy  days,  thy  existence  as  a 
nation,  may  be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord 
thy  God  giveth  thee." 

I  have  recommended  the  praise  of  your  friends, 
of  your  country,  and  of  mankind,  as  a  motive  to  du- 
ty ;  and  pointed  out  the  good  effects  that  may  result 


32 

from  your  desire  to  obtain  it.  Bear  with  me  how- 
ever, a  few  moments,  while  I  caution  you  against 
the  dangerous  consequences  which  may  spring  from 
the  abuse  of  this  passion. 

Many  young  men  who  have  early  discovered  a 
certain  promptness  and  vivacity  of  parts,  courted  and 
caressed  as  the  life  of  e\  ery  gay  company,  have  cul- 
tivated only  those  superficial  talents  which  made  them 
entertaining  companions,  and  attracted  the  unthink- 
ing applauses  of  levity  and  mirth.  Having  glittered 
awhile  in  the  circles  of  fashion,  or  of  dissipation, 
they  have  afterwards  sunk  into  insignificance  and  all 
their  early  promises  have  perished. 

Their  vanity,  nourished  by  the  praises  of  their 
friends,  led  them  to  imagine  that  they  already  shone 
with  the  lustre  of  genuine  wit  at  the  summit  of  the 
mountain,  while  they  only  flashed  like  meteors  at  the 
bottom  for  a  few  moments  and  disappeared.  Be- 
tween sprightliness  of  parts,  and  the  capacities  of  a 
great  mind,  between  promptness  of  wit,  and  solidi- 
ty of  understanding,  between  the  brilliancy  of  certain 
companionable  qualities  and  mature  wisdom,  there 
is  a  wide  difference.  And  young  men,  fascinated 
by  the  noisy  plaudits  bestowed  on  these  frivolous 
accomplishments,  have  too  frequently  misapplied 
their  time,  and  given  a  wrong  direction  to  the  early 
efforts  of  their  genius.  Thus  have  bte  i  blasted  all 
the  opening  blossoms  of  hope  ;  and  the  first  rich 
promise  of  fruit  has  withered  and  dropped  from  the 
tree  before  it  came  to  maturitv. 


When  vanity  assumes  a  merit  to  itself  for  the 
novelty,  the  extravagance,  or  impiety  of  the  prin- 
ciples it  maintains,  it  presents  to  us  one  of  the  most 
fatal  spmtoms  of  a  depraved  heart.  It  is  dangerous 
even  to  sport  opinions  of  which  you  are  not  firmly 
persuaded,  in  order  to  gain  the  praise  of  ingenuity 
and  wit.  But  lost,  and  commonly  beyond  recove- 
ry, is  the  unhappy  youth  whom  the  vanity  of  re- 
ceiving the  applause  of  loose  and  profligate  com- 
panions leads  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  associ- 
ations for  vice.  Stimulated  by  their  flatteries,  he 
outgoes  even  his  own  desires  for  indulgence  ;  and 
far  outgoes  his  convictions  of  what  is  consistent  with 
reason,  or  with  duty.  In  proportion  to  the  ascen- 
dancy he  has  assumed  among  them,  must  he  be 
more  profligate  than  they ;  aim  a  more  poignant  ridi- 
cule at  virtue,  more  impious  scoffs  against  religion. 
Gh  !  fatal  vanity !  which  is  hastening  the  perdition 
of  the  soul,  and  laying  up  for  them  the  eternal  exe- 
crations of  those  whom  they  have  ruined  by  their  ex- 
ample, and  who  are  now  ruining  them  by  their  guil- 
ty praises.  "  Of  you,  I  may  say  with  the  apostle, 
I  hope  better  things,  though  I  thus  speak. ^^ 

But,  in  the  conclusion  of  this  address,  suffer  me  to 
repeat  to  you,  that,  however  laudable  in  youth  is  a 
generous  love  of  praise,  it  should  never  hold  the 
chief  sway  among  the  motives  of  your  conduct.  It 
should  ever  be  subordinate  to  a  pure  and  ardent 
love  of  virtue,  and  reverence  for  religion,  and  even 

E 


34 

to  a  just  and  noble  respect  for  yourselves.  But,  the 
first  object  of  desire  to  every  reasonable  being  should 
be  the  approbation  of  God.  He  who  embraces  all 
being  in  himself  is  the  sovreign  good.  What  is  the 
transient  breath  of  mortals  compared  to  his  favour 
xvhlch  is  lije,  afid  his  loving  kindness  which  is  better 
than  life  ?  Vain  is  all  human  glory,  separated  from 
virtue  and  from  the  love  and  service  of  the  living 
God.  The  laurels  of  the  conquerors  of  the  world 
have  long  since  withered  on  their  brows — the  proud- 
est monuments  of  princely  vanity  have  been  long 
since  levelled  with  the  dust,  the  most  splendid 
works  of  genius  and  of  art  consecrated  to  the  fame  of 
illustrious  men,  are  continually  passing  to  oblivion, 
and  the  world  itself  shall  perish;  but  those  wl^love 
God  shall  inhabit  with  him  the  praises  of  eternity. 
Never  can  you  too  profoundly  impress  it  on  your 
hearts  that  God  your  Creator  possesses  the  supreme 
right  to  all  the  powers  of  your  being.  From  him 
they  are  derived,  to  him  they  ought  continually  to 
tend.  How  amiable  and  lovely  in  youth  is  piety, 
which  draws  down  the  spirit  of  heaven  to  earth ; 
which  opens  on  the  beginning  of  life  the  fairest  bios- 
soms  of  hope ;  which  consecrates  to  our  adorable 
Creator  and  Redeemer  the  bloom  of  existence  ;  and 
is  preparing  in  the  heart  the  ripened  fruit  of  a  bless- 
ed and  glorious  immortality.  The  early  contact  of 
the  soul,  If  I  may  speak  so,  with  infinite  purity, 
which  is  effected  by  the  power  of  devotion,  at  once 


35 

ennobles  and  purifies  its  being,  and  prepares  it  for 
those  holy  and  ineffable  joys  which  perfect  spirits 
taste  in  the  presence  of  God. 

Retiring  as  you  now  are  from  these  studious  re- 
treats in  which  you  have  spent  many  hours  of  refin- 
ed and  social  pleasure  ;  and  dissolving  many  pleas- 
ing ties  which  have  hitherto  united  you  with  your 
literary  associates,  let  these  separations  remind  you 
of  that  more  serious  moment  when  you  must  part 
with  all  human  friendships ;  and  when  the  world 
fading  from  your  view,  shall  leave  you  no  support  in 
the  conflict  with  death,  and  no  consolation  at  the 
bar  of  Heaven,  but  the  mercy  and  grace  of  your 
Redeemer,  and  the  review  of  life  spent  in  obedience 
to  his  holy  will.  So  live,  and  employ  the  talents 
which  God  has  given  you,  that  the  Supreme  Judge, 
assembling  round  you  in  that  day  your  good  works, 
may,  from  this  tribunal,  proclaim  them  to  the  uni- 
verse, to  your  everlasting  glory  and  praise. 

As  I  am  now  performing  the  last  office  which  my 
station  requires  in  superintending  this  period  of  your 
education;  for  your  diligence,  for  your  laudable 
ambition,  in  any  instance,  to  excel ;  for  all  that  you 
have  done  well  for  your  own  honor  and  interest,  or 
for  the  general  interest  of  morals  and  letters  in  the 
college,  accept  my  thanks.  For  nothing  is  dearer 
to  my  heart  than  the  improvement  in  every  useful 
and  ornamental  endowment  of  those  whose  educa- 
tion  has  been  committed  to  my  charge. 


36 

'  If,  in  the  course  of  your  studies,  I  have,  through 
madvertance  or  mistake,  injured  the  feelings  of  one 
person  in  the  class,  I  trust  tha't  my  motives,  and  the 
arduousness  of  my  situation  will  excuse  it.  All 
that  is  past  is  forgotten,  except  your  virtues.  Hence- 
forward I  regard  you  as  equals,  and,  as  men.  One 
emotion  only  occupies  my  heart  in  a  fervent  aspira- 
tion to  heaven,  for  your  honor  and  usefulness  in 
hfe  ;  and  for  your  everlasting  salvation.  O  blessed 
Jesus  !  Saviour  and  advocate  of  mankind !  who  dost 
offer  the  sincere  prayers  of  thy  people  before  God, 
deign  to  present  this  prayer  with  acceptance  at  the 

heavenly  throne ! 

Adieu  I 


^•. 


1804. 


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^\''  J 


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